The Kronstadt Uprising of 1921

[BOZG]

I have never noticed any topic on this event before and I think it could make for a good debate. Was Kronstadt a betrayal to the revolution and anti-communist or was it a justifiable revolt against oppression?

[Cassius Clay]

That's a tough question Comrade. Often Anarchists or self-proclaimed 'Socialists' will use this as a example of 'Leninism leading to Stalinism'. They will point out to the list of 15 demands the Rebels made, which if one looks at without knowing much of the background to the revolt seem quite reasonble.

If you don't wish to take that view (which I don't) then one peice of evidence that Bolsheviks will use is that a French paper ran by ex Whites began reporting on the uprising days before it actually began. This ofcourse shows that the Soviet governments claim at the time that the uprising was 'A White Guard-Counter revolution' does have some basis and was NOT merely propaganda.

Also remember that the Krodstadt sailors at that time were not the same one's as in 1917 (they had all died). They were made up of peasants who were nothing more than unhappy conscripts who really wanted to go home (like all conscripts). Now at this time the Red Army for a series of complex reasons (mostly due to the massive Imperialist intervention) were having to carry out the policy known as 'War Communism' which meant confiscating the minimum amount of grain from the peasants in order to feed the workers and army.

Now dare I say to a young peasant conscript in those days and in those circumstances (his family could be starving for he knew) a White spy wispering in his ear how evil those godless Bolsheviks are and how they must get rid of them may sound very tempting.

A point worth noting also is that the so called 'Bolshevik' running the garrison/Island was one of Trotsky's goons and the man run the place as a Tyrant by all accounts. Sought of like Captain Bligh syndrome.

So they rebbeled, preety violently by all accounts. Seizing the lsland (which happened to be a naval base) and the ships and threatening to shell Petrograd. Now put your self in Lenin's shoes for a moment, what do you do?

Personally I send over the Red Army straight away to crush the dam thing. If any government let a act of mutiny go unpunished (and negotians wen't on for quite some time) then that would send a signal to all soughts of people that as long as your violent enough we will give in to your demands.

Ofcourse if you share the anarchists point of view then I refer you again to my first paragraph. But remember within weeks of the uprising the Bolsheviks had agreed to almost all of the rebels demands, and dare I say the rebbellion partly infulenced the party's decisions. But a violent mutiny whose participants then threaten to start shelling cities MUST be put down.

Anyway that's just my tow cents worth.

[redstar2000]

"Was Kronstadt a betrayal of the revolution and anti-communist or was it a justifiable revolt against oppression?

BOTH!

[new democracy]

the workers that revolt in kronstadt actually talked about "finishing the job that was started in 1,917" and "overthrowing the dictatorship of the communist party, with its checka and its STATE CAPITALISM". the rebels established a COMMUNE in kronstadt. thye did not planned to restore capitalism at all. the third revolution could have been a great workers revolution. the fatal mistake of the rebels was that they did not march across the frozen baltic sea to join forces with strikers at petrograd. this was not only a legitimate revolt against oppression, but a great workers revolution.

[new democracy]

redstar said in politics online that the workers in the kronstadt uprising were anti semite, but i find hard to believe since emma goldman(a jewish anarchist)participated in that uprising. anyway, here is some works that will interest you: http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archi...urther_toc.html , http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archi...t/berkkron.html .

[redstar2000]

I didn't mean to suggest an oversimplification; the Kronstadt rebels were mostly peasants from western Russia where anti-semitism was very much a part of rural culture. It wasn't that they were some kind of "nazis" who wanted to start a pogrom; mostly what they wanted was for the "jewish" bolsheviks to stop taking their relatives' food.

What would have happened if they had gone on to win in Petrograd and Moscow is IMPOSSIBLE to know.

[Sol]

Now, if these sailors are actually peasants from rural areas I find it hard to believe that they were calling the regime "state capitalist" and all that. From what I've read most of the Russian peasantry were illiterate. Am I off base?

I don't know much about the uprising itself, but from the looks of it it seemed a classic mutiny. Soldiers were unhappy, noticed they had the guns, and used them.
I think most any government of the age would have crushed it in pretty much any circumstance. (Not trying to justify a violent response, but just tryin' to say that this isn't a real example of the Party's iron fist)

[redstar2000]

I hope people will check out the links that ND posted; they are VERY informative.

One thing that struck me: in the weeks leading up to Kronstadt, there was tremendous discontent among the workers of Petrograd. How did the bolsheviks (under Zinoviev) respond? Strikes--FORBIDDEN. Meetings--FORBIDDEN. Critical leaflets--FORBIDDEN. Demonstrations--FORBIDDEN. Martial Law--IMPOSED.

There was no question of anti-semitism or "white conspiracies" here--these were thousands and tens of thousands of WORKERS who were pissed off at bolshevik INCOMPETENCE.

Nor can these repressive measures be blamed on Trotsky or Stalin--Lenin was IN CHARGE.

So maybe it's time we took down those "heroic" pictures of V.I. and replaced them with some more honest portraits...a comrade who always tried to do the right thing as he saw it and often did exactly the WRONG THING from the standpoint of communism.